NBA 2010-2011

[jon abbey]

just in case I haven't gone on the record, you all know that I was on the LeBron to NY bandwagon even before he signed his previous deal, and I was as heartbroken as any non-Cavs fan when he took his talents elsewhere.

but I'd currently (this could change) root hard for Miami over both Boston (obviously) and Orlando in playoff series, not sure about the Lakers. the Wade/LeBron on-court dynamic should be pretty fascinating for any fan of the game, no matter what you think of either of them personally.

If OKC played the Lakers in the Western finals who would you root for? Same question if they beat the Lakers to face the Heat.

OKC/LAL would depend a bit on whether Boston was still alive: LAL if they were, probably OKC if they weren't. if that same team was in Seattle still, I'd be able to root for them a lot more, but the way they were stolen from Seattle is much worse than what LeBron did to Cleveland IMO.

OKC/MIA, I might go for Miami just to be a bit contrarian, but I do love me some Russell Westbrook.

[The G Man]

OKC/LAL would depend a bit on whether Boston was still alive: LAL if they were, probably OKC if they weren't. if that same team was in Seattle still, I'd be able to root for them a lot more, but the way they were stolen from Seattle is much worse than what LeBron did to Cleveland IMO.

I don't remember the details of how the franchise shift went down. Why do you say that?

Have you ever rooted for a Boston team against a non-Boston team in an important post-season series? If so, when last?

[jon abbey]

I don't remember the details of how the franchise shift went down. Why do you say that?

well, Cleveland still has a team, Seattle doesn't. I'm sure there are lengthy and definitive summaries of the specifics on the web somewhere, but basically Stern tilted the proceedings at different stages and killed any chance of them staying.

http://www.seattlepi.com/basketball/372167_trial25.html

it's complicated, I'd like to read a good summary from someone semi-neutral myself sometime.

Have you ever rooted for a Boston team against a non-Boston team in an important post-season series? If so, when last?

not often, but I rooted for the Celtics to knock out Cleveland last year so LeBron would be more likely to come to NY.

[walto]

SO. What does everyone think of the new Lebron commercial???

My 16-year old daughter saw the ad today and was amazed that Nike paid HIM for putting out what's basically an ad for LeBron rather than an ad for sneakers--instead of him paying THEM. She said, "I'll tell him what he should do: Shut up."

[Captain Hate]

SO. What does everyone think of the new Lebron commercial???

I really hate Nike and this is a CYA for one of their main breadwinners; so I hate it. It should end "Just STFU"

[Enforcer]

"nobody's ever going to score 81 again that's for sure. not another point guard anyway. maybe a guy like mutombo or SHaq could do it, with crazy reach and dunking. but Kobe is the only guard. he's got crazy threes and wicked post moves and can guard the 3 or 4 on any team. best player of all time."

[Captain Hate]

RIP Maurice Lucas. One of Al McGuire's boys on the team that lost to David Thompson's Wuffies; Lucas played the whole 40 and had 21 points and 12 rebounds in a losing effort. He then spent a couple years in the ABA before getting on the Blazers where he was a major badass enforcer, probably protecting Walton before he became good for a small window of time and during which the horse-toothed goof's personal hygiene must've been non-existent from all the stories of how bad he stunk. During the Blazer's championship series with the Sixers, he got into a brawl with Darryl Dawkins. The fuckheads at Wiki get it almost completely wrong so let me tell you how it really happened: When Lionel Hollins on the Blazers missed a fast break layup, Dawkins and Bob Gross (I thought it was Dave Twardzik but that's probably incorrect; some anonymous white guy) both got their hands on the rebound for a tie up. The Wikidiots say they went tumbling to the floor but that's not true: Dawkins threw him to the floor by just lifting the ball up, to the side and down while Gross was holding on. It was an incredibly strong thing for Chocolate Thunder to do but also totally unnecessary. Gross got up pissed off and went at DD, which was really stupid in retrospect, and others moved in to stop it; Lucas thought fuck that shit and gave Dawkins a forearm shiv from behind. The two of them squared off at that point in an ugly but completely electric (Musberger surely blew multiple loads) moment before order was restored and I don't think a single punch landed. Both were ejected and the Sixers went on for a 2-0 lead before the Blazer reeled off 4 in a row to win the championship. Lucas really dominated George McGinnis and, I believe, contributed to George's career going in the toilet after that; he was insecure about his role on the team after the Sixers got Dr J and pretty much dissolved into a trail of tobacco smoke. That was probably the peak of Lucas's career because he knocked around a number of other teams like the Knicks, Suns, Lakers and Sonics. Purportedly he's the source of Luke Walton's name, which is probably one of the few explicable things that Bill ever did.

[walto]

Thanks, for the mems, Cap. I can remember that series just a bit. I'm sure I'd never heard that about Luke Walton's name, though.

[faster]

There's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9lHM6h4 ... r_embedded

[faster]

And RIP indeed.

[Captain Hate]

Thanks for the link; I guess it was Gilliam that missed the shot (Wiki FTMFL) and I guess they did "come crashing to the floor" but it was all driven by Dawkins. I'd forgotten about Collins getting nailed by Chocolate Thunder; poor Doug, always in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Wikitards said that Lucas "slapped Dawkins from behind"; LOL at those dickbags and their concept of "slap".

[walto]

It looked like Dawkins could have broken Gross's arm with that take-down. I like how when Gross gets up he kind of wants to get in Dawkins' face but also kind of doesn't. Lucas was always a tough bastard, though.

[Captain Hate]

Faster providing that Youtoob jogged a lot of other thoughts: I'd forgotten that Rick Barry did the games with Brent then. LOL @ Musberger talking about Zinkoff getting control of the crowd; he was about 90 by then and was the size of the 14th root of Dawkins. He *was* a great announcer in the Spectrum forever though; particularly how he'd roll his r's when he'd go thhhhrrrrreeee for t------woooo. He also would scream out whenever the penalty situation was in effect since if the refs fucked that up it was too goddamn bad. After getting ejected, the man from Lovetron destroyed a number of toilets in the locker room (and not from vicious shits) because he was upset that none of his teammates were ready to rumble with him. I can imagine the SHF having a permanently dislocated mangina for that; not to mention everybody would be suspended for leaving the bench.

[Enforcer]

Thanks for the memories, Cap (and to faster for the link!). So awesome, such a great time for the league. Enforcers on pretty much every team back then, days I miss.

[Captain Hate]

It was a great time for the league, Nags; the ABA teams and players from the teams that didn't make the cut were getting incorporated which really threw a monkey-wrench into the existing order. Magic and Bird were still 3 years away so the league was in such an unstable situation as far as no dominant team that the Bullets were finally able to get over the hump the following year by adding Bob Dandridge to the Wes Unseld/Elvin Hayes front line and gave them the missing X factor so they could come from out of nowhere.

[jon abbey]

I remember Maurice Lucas a bit, he was one of the first in the Oakley/Ben Wallace lineage, always fun players to root for. RIP.

people need to make fun of the Knicks for their game being cancelled tonight, like they were playing in a YMCA or something.

[The G Man]

I wish I had watched the Wizards-Sixers tonight. 9 steals for John Wall.

[BoBetter]

Glad I have Wall on my fantasy team. I expect him to be a lot like Rondo. A lot of steals, assists, and high percentage lay-ups, better from the line, not a lot of jumpers. His jumper is ugly. I saw him shoot a set shot as a 3 the other night. Pretty horrible for a NBA player.

Hickson with 31 tonight.

Yeah, the Cavs didn't have a supporting cast......

[Jesse]

9 steals for John Wall.

http://utterpsalm.blogspot.com/

[jon abbey]

Hickson with 31 tonight.

Yeah, the Cavs didn't have a supporting cast......

Cleveland won 3 out of 4 playoff games where he got more than 10 minutes, he couldn't really help much from the bench.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... s_playoffs

Antawn Jamison: subtraction by addition.